A Chicago Tribune investigation has found that frail and vulnerable residents of nursing homes throughout Illinois are being given with powerful psychotropic drugs which lead to tremors, dangerous lethargy and a high risk of harmful falls or even death. Many of these elderly and disabled people have been drugged without their consent or without a legitimate psychiatric diagnosis that would justify this sort of treatment. One 74-year-old man was in a nursing home near Peoria for less than a day before staff members held him down and injected him with a large amount of antipsychotic drug. He fell a few hours later and suffered a fatal head injury. One woman was given a psychotropic drug partly because she refused to wear a bra. The Tribune investigation revealed that there were 1,200 violations at Illinois nursing homes that involved psychotropic drugs. The FDA has previously released information that thousands of nursing home residents die each year because antipsychotic drugs are administered to patients who are not mentally ill. Illinois nursing home residents are placed on antipsychotic medications for such reasons as “restlessness, anxiety or confusion.” It appears that by placing residents on this medication it makes the residents easier to care for. Yet, common side effects include severe lethargy, permanent involuntary muscle movements, seizures and sudden death. Heritage Nursing Home in Chicago was investigated and found to have tried giving an antipsychotic drug to a refusing patient. Finally, a nurse gave the patient, one without any history of heart troubles, the drug without telling him. At Heartland Health Care Center in Moline an 83-year-old woman was placed on Hadol without any diagnosis of mental illness. To read more about the psychotropic drugs, please click the link.

Delores Fleming’s relatives placed her in Heritage Manor Nursing Home after her Alzheimer’s heightened. Although they had hoped to continue caring for their mother in her same two-story home, it became apparent that more skilled care was necessary. When she entered Heritage Manor near Decatur, Illinois she scored 23 out of a 30 on a mental exam and was deemed to be “moderately impaired.” However, after a few crying spells and wandering incidents, her doctor prescribed two antipsychotic drugs, despite the fact that she was not psychotic. The doctor doubled the dosage four times, which put the 76-year-old woman above her recommended limit. The Fleming family called in a neurologist, who found the victim glassy-eyed and catatonic. She was now scoring a zero on the mental exam. State regulators then cited the nursing home, Heritage Manor of Mount Zion, for the misuse of psychotropic drugs. Yet, the doctor who was primarily responsible for the victim’s medication emerged with no citations, no penalties and a spotless public record. This, unfortunately, is not a rare occurrence. A Chicago Tribune investigation found numerous instances in which regulators cited the nursing home facilities for misusing psychotropics even though the patients’ doctors had created the problems. Therefore the physician’s are not being fined for their nursing home negligence; no matter high they prescribe the medicine. In one case, a woman at the Fondulac Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in East Peoria grew weak and eventually died from the antipsychotic drug she was placed on. Some believe this problem results from the lack of familiarity between a doctor and his nursing home patient. Oftentimes doctors do not make enough time to visit with their patients. This lack of inattentiveness and willingness to place elderly people on strong medications has led to great numbers of nursing home negligence. To read more about the chemical restraints, please click the link.

Heritage Manor Nursing Home in Colfax, Illinois lost a legal battle in a lawsuit where a former employee was awarded $17,000 after reporting sexual assault of an older resident. The whistleblower claims that she was fired after she reported suspicions that sexual abuse of an elderly resident of Heritage Manor was being ignored. The former employee, and widowed mother of nine, was awarded $10,000 in pain and suffering. Heritage Manor, a company based in Bloomington, has been sued in other nursing home abuse and neglect cases.
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Violations: 54 Illinois nursing home regulations violators during April - June 2006

The Illinois Department of Public Health has initiated action, as indicated, against the following facilities which have been determined to be in violation of the Nursing Home Care Act, or has recommended decertification to the Director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, or the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for violations in relation to patient care, pursuant to Titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act.

Heritage Manor was fined $60,000 for failure to comply with its plan of correction from the August 2005 survey by failing to ensure that its policies and procedures to notify the doctor about significant changes of a resident’s condition. Specifically, the facility failed to notify the doctor that a resident sustained a head injury after a fall. Failure to notify the doctor and to fully monitor the resident resulted in a delay in treatment for the worsening head injury. The resident later died at the hospital, as a result of the fall.

The Illinois Department of Health produces quarterly reports on nursing home violators.

Heritage Manor South-Beardstown was fined $20,000 for failure to immediately notify a doctor when a resident with diabetes experienced low blood sugar levels and for failure to give complete information to the doctor when he was notified. The facility also failed to respond to and treat signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia and failed to have policies and procedures established for staff to follow regarding hypoglycemia for residents with insulin dependent diabetes.

The Illinois Department of Health produces quarterly reports on nursing home violators.

The Illinois Department of Public Health has initiated action against the following facilities which have been determined to be in violation of the Nursing Home Care Act, or has recommended decertification to the Director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, or the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for violations in relation to patient care, pursuant to Titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act.

Fined for failure to have an effective system in place to assess, treat and monitor pain; to administer pain medication as ordered for two residents exhibiting signs of pain; and to ensure that effective nursing measures were developed and implemented to relieve pain for four additional residents.

The staff at the Heritage Manor nursing home in Chillicothe, Illinois failed to implement procedure to prevent a resident from falling. The resident fell five times from his bed in four months. As a result of the last fall the resident broke his neck and died.

Illinois Nursing Home residents at a Colfax facility were victims of inappropriate sexual contact by an employee of the facility. At least one incident was witnessed by a nurse who reported the incident to the DON. The DON, who was married to the perpetrator, failed to thoroughly investigate the incidents and the perpetrator was allowed to continue to work at the facility.

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